{"id":38645,"date":"2018-02-09T08:08:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T08:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/09\/marine-f-35-pilots-preparing-for-first-ever-hover-landings-aboard-an-amphibious-ship\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:47:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:47:00","slug":"marine-f-35-pilots-preparing-for-first-ever-hover-landings-aboard-an-amphibious-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/02\/09\/marine-f-35-pilots-preparing-for-first-ever-hover-landings-aboard-an-amphibious-ship\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine F-35 pilots to perform first-ever hover landings aboard amphibious ship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A U.S. Marine Corps pilot from the first forward-deployed F-35 unit tells Defense News what it’s like to vertically land an F-35B at the 2018 Singapore Airshow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

SINGAPORE \u2014 When the U.S. Marine Corps\u2019 first forward-deployed F-35 fighter squadron sets sail with the amphibious ship Wasp<\/a> this year, it will be the first opportunity for many of the pilots to carry out the jet\u2019s distinctive vertical landing aboard a ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s very few [pilots] that have actually landed onboard a ship,\u201d Maj. Jesse Peppers, the assistant operations officer for Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121<\/a>, said on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow on Thursday. Two F-35Bs were featured<\/a> as static displays during the event, which runs from Feb. 6 to 11. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey will have simulated landings onboard a ship in the simulator and on the field, in stationary landing areas, but then they go out to the ship, it\u2019s going to be the first time that they\u2019ve actually landed onboard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here for more from Singapore Airshow 2018!<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peppers, a former Hornet pilot who has operated the F-35 since 2014 and flew one of the B-model planes to Singapore for the show, won\u2019t be one of the Marines from Japan headed to the Wasp this year. His first short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing, or STOVL, aboard an amphibious ship will come during a later deployment, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

VMFA-121<\/a>, located at Marine Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, is comprised of a mix of experienced pilots who transferred from other aircraft to brand-new pilots for whom the F-35 will be the first plane they learn to fly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The squadron\u2019s commanding officer is originally an F-35 test pilot who is one of the few Marines out there with practical experience doing the STOVL while at sea. Some of the F-35 pilots selected to deploy aboard the Wasp also have experience performing STOVL operations with the AV-8B Harrier, Pepper said. <\/p>\n\n\n\t